Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 4, 2023 39 GAME PREVIEW: CLEMSON game four times and winning it twice. He did it with two quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round and later became NFL stars, but there are other programs (looking at you Oklahoma, and to a much lesser extent North Carolina) who recruit multiple NFL starters in a short span and don't win the national championship. It's impossible to overstate how badly Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman needed the Irish to perform like they did in Week 7 against USC, because goodwill among the fan base was dwindling fast. Despite CFP hopes dying the week prior against Louisville, Notre Dame played the USC game with its hair on fire and that's a major credit to this coaching staff. Still, there's no way you can give this category to Notre Dame. Advantage: Clemson Clemson's cornerback duo of juniors Nate W iggins (pictured) and Andre w Mukuba allowed only 3.5 yards per pass attempt through seven games this season. PHOTO COURTESY CLEMSON ATHLETICS INTANGIBLES Giving the road team the edge in intangibles is difficult, especially at a place like Clemson. The Tigers are 23-2 at Memorial Stadium — nick- named "Death Valley" — since the start of the 2019 season, but both losses occurred in the past five matchups (South Carolina and Florida State, respectively). Clemson is fading, and so, too, is its impeccable home-field advantage. Here's another factor that might matter a little bit more: experience. Every Notre Dame defensive starter except Morrison is a senior or a graduate student, and Hartman — as you may have heard — is very old for a college football player. Clemson isn't overly green by any stretch, but its quar- terback is a sophomore, and the Tigers start five sophomores or juniors on defense. That includes all three linebackers, and the Irish have said many times how much their linebackers' experience matters for calling and orchestrating their defense. Finally, Notre Dame has more to play for at this point than Clemson. The opposite was true last season, when the Irish had three losses and the Tigers were in line for a CFP berth, but it still mat- ters. The Irish have not won a major bowl game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl, and they'll be fired up for the chance to make the New Year's Six in 2023. Advantage: Notre Dame OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LT 71 Tristan Leigh 6-6 315 R-So. or 50 Collin Sadler 6-6 310 R-Fr. LG 74 Marcus Tate 6-5 325 Jr. 75 Trent Howard 6-3 295 R-Jr. 59 Dietrick Pennington 6-5 340 R-So. C 56 Will Putnam 6-4 310 Gr. 53 Ryan Linthicum 6-3 305 R-So. or 75 Trent Howard 6-3 295 R-Jr. RG 77 Mitchell Mayes 6-3 305 Sr. 55 Harris Sewell 6-4 315 Fr. RT 78 Blake Miller 6-6 310 So. 77 Mitchell Mayes 6-3 305 Sr. TE 9 Jake Briningstool 6-6 230 Jr. 11 Sage Ennis 6-4 240 R-Jr. 5 Josh Sapp 6-1 235 R-Fr. WR 8 Adam Randall 6-2 225 So. or 13 Brannon Spector 6-1 205 Gr. QB 2 Cade Klubnik 6-2 205 So. 18 Hunter Helms 6-2 210 R-Jr. 12 Paul Tyson 6-4 215 Gr. RB 1 Will Shipley 5-11 210 Jr. or 7 Phil Mafah 6-1 230 Jr. 20 Domonique Thomas 5-8 210 R-Jr. WR 0 Antonio Williams 5-11 195 So. 6 Tyler Brown 5-11 180 Fr. WR 80 Beaux Collins 6-3 210 Jr. 10 Troy Stellato 6-1 190 R-So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 3 Xavier Thomas 6-2 245 Gr. 12 T.J. Parker 6-3 255 Fr. DT 13 Tyler Davis 6-2 300 Gr. or 11 Peter Woods 6-2 315 Fr. 55 Payton Page 6-4 315 Jr. DT 33 Ruke Orhorhoro 6-4 290 Gr. or 11 Peter Woods 6-2 315 Fr. 19 DeMonte Capehart 6-5 320 R-Jr. DE 7 Justin Mascoll 6-4 260 Gr. 44 Cade Denhoff 6-5 255 R-So. SLB 17 Wade Woodaz 6-3 230 So. 32 Jamal Anderson 6-2 215 Fr. MLB 54 Jeremiah Trotter Jr. 6-0 230 Jr. 21 Kobe McCloud 5-10 225 R-Fr. or 22 Dee Crayton 6-2 225 Fr. WLB 0 Barrett Carter 6-1 230 Jr. 17 Wade Woodaz 6-3 230 So. CB 6 Sheridan Jones 6-0 190 Gr. 23 Toriano Pride Jr. 5-11 190 So. 14 Shelton Lewis 5-11 185 Fr. SS 9 R.J. Mickens 6-0 210 Sr. 5 Sherrod Covil Jr. 5-11 200 So. FS 25 Jalyn Phillips 6-1 205 Gr. 18 Kylon Griffin 5-11 200 R-Fr. NB 1 Andrew Mukuba 6-0 195 Jr. 36 Khalil Barnes 6-0 195 Fr. CB 2 Nate Wiggins 6-2 185 Jr. 10 Jeadyn Lukus 6-2 200 So. 20 Avieon Terrell 5-11 180 Fr. Clemson Tigers Depth Chart SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 41 Jonathan Weitz 5-11 195 Gr. or 38 Robert Gunn III 6-0 180 R-Fr. P 39 Aidan Swanson 6-3 170 Gr. 89 Jack Smith 6-5 235 R-Fr. KO 38 Robert Gunn III 6-0 180 R-Fr. 39 Aidan Swanson 6-3 170 Gr. LS-PK 58 Holden Caspersen 5-11 215 R-So. 45 Philip Florenzo 6-2 240 R-Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS-P 45 Philip Florenzo 6-2 240 R-Jr. 58 Holden Caspersen 5-11 215 R-So. H 88 Clay Swinney 5-10 175 R-Fr. PR 0 Antonio Williams 5-11 195 So. or 6 Tyler Brown 5-11 180 Fr. KOR 1 Will Shipley 5-11 210 Jr. 6 Tyler Brown 5-11 180 Fr.